American Folk Art Museum to exhibit 1844 Salisbury portrait

The Salisbury Association is loaning an 1844 portrait of Maria Birch Coffing and Jane Elizabeth Winslow to the American Folk Art Museum in New York. Painted by Edwin White, the artwork depicts Maria Coffing in the foreground with a young Black woman, Jane Winslow, visible in a doorway behind her.

The museum selected the piece for an exhibition focused on the representation of girls and young Black women in early American art, aiming to highlight their often-overlooked histories. The portrait, which was acquired by the Salisbury Association in 2012, underwent a complex restoration process by Val Michalski to remove a stubborn layer of varnish that had previously been described as being in ‘quite appalling’ condition.